Lumpen means rags in German, so it would be something poorer than the proletarian, e.g.: prostitutes, vagabonds, thiefs, (small) drug dealers and so on. Basically what Marx called the "reserve army of the unemployed who live in the worst conditions and whose, by existing in such a poor material reality do not have the resources to be properly class conscious. This is not to say that some individual in this condition can’t have a good understanding of Marxism, but rather than because of their status they cannot have a proper organization as a movement, one of the main reasons being the state of illegality of their respective labours.
Lumpen means rags in German, so it would be something poorer than the proletarian, e.g.: prostitutes, vagabonds, thiefs, (small) drug dealers and so on. Basically what Marx called the "reserve army of the unemployed who live in the worst conditions and whose, by existing in such a poor material reality do not have the resources to be properly class conscious. This is not to say that some individual in this condition can’t have a good understanding of Marxism, but rather than because of their status they cannot have a proper organization as a movement, one of the main reasons being the state of illegality of their respective labours.